Monster Hunter Chronicles: A Zap into the Unknown
by AssasinNarga96707
Summary: A story filled with adventure, action and suspense about some modern people who somehow end up in the Monster Hunter Universe. Join their journey as they learn to become hunters, battle monsters and try to find the cause for their zap into this alternate universe.
1. Chapter 1: Electric Suckers

**DISCLAIMER:**

 **All the characters in this story are fictional creations. I do not intend to emotionally hurt or abuse anyone. Any resemblance to any person, dead or alive, is purely coincidental.**

 **CHAPTER 1: Electric Suckers**

"Are you done?"

"Yes, just a minute, Rick!"

Rick waited impatiently, tapping his feet on the floor of their house on 35th Avenue, San Francisco. He was lounging on one of the two matching cane chairs in the room he shared with his sister. He was 15, five feet six inches with jet-black close cropped hair and intense black eyes. He was holding a Red Nintendo 3DS with a symbol of a dragon and the words Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate on the flap - cover.

He and his sister, Joanne were full-on Monster Hunter addicts. They'd played every game in the series that were available in English, and some that were not too. They had played other games, but had never been much into anything else. Today was Saturday, which meant game time. They killed about twelve hours every weekend playing Monster Hunter. They had hunted together so many times that they could hunt a Rajang and a Deviljho in one area without smoke bombs.

"Come on!" shouted Rick, "Or I'm going to go without you!"

Just then, Joanne walked in. A toddler could tell that she and Rick were siblings. She looked exactly like Rick. Same height (almost), an age difference of only two months. The only visible difference was that her hair fell around her shoulders. She didn't like to cut it.

Rick often asked his aunt how he was older by only two months. The math didn't add up if he and Joanne weren't twins or something. His aunt never told him. She said she didn't know.

This is probably a good time to mention that Rick and Joanne didn't have parents. They'd died in an explosion while they were at this lecture. They had both been environmentalists. Rick and Joanne had not even been able to cry at their funeral. They'd just stood there looking paler than the white gravestone.

Now they lived with their uncle and aunt, who were thankfully not very bad, but not very good either. They fed them and paid the school fees, but didn't really talk much or offer to help with school projects. That was fine with the kids. They liked to be left alone.

Joanne sat on the other cane chair and removed her 3DS from the bedside cabinet; a matching Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate edition, but hers was black.

"So, what are we hunting today?" she asked, as she powered it up.

"Nothing special, I finished grinding for my Gore X set. You wanna grind for something?"

"Nah. I guess we'll just help some newbs then. We can limit it to G3 quests. We have to get to the 8th scroll"

"Sounds good."

Rick liked helping randoms, especially newbs. He liked to kick them or skewer them with his longsword if they got annoying or made mistakes.

They were looking for good requsts when Rick exclaimed, "Hey, Freddy's asking for buddies to hunt Frenzied Zinnies!"

Joanne scowled. Rick knew that she hated Zinogres, much less frenzied ones, but he figured they should help Freddy out. And he liked Zinogres.

His name was Frederick but he insisted on being called Freddy (even though he was over 10 years older). He was an engineer who loved weapons. He always marveled at the weird and wonderful weapons in Monster Hunter. He'd come to their school to give a lecture and spotted Rick and Joanne sketching out some of their weapons. He'd confiscated the book, only to come to them later and asking where they'd seen all of these.

They entered the gathering hall. Freddy recognized them and waved, _How's it going, fellas?_ He typed.

 _Hey, Freddy! I thought you had a date today!_ Rick typed.

Freddy stomped repeatedly on the ground, a gesture Rick recognized as frustrated, _Yeah, but she wanted to go to a restaurant, and I wanted to go to the cinema. So we didn't go anywhere._

Joanne rolled her eyes. Rick did the clapping gesture. Freddy kept planning dates and pretending to get frustrated when he lost them, but both of them knew that the dude just preferred to stay home alone and chug cokes (Freddy hated alcohol because everyone liked it, just like he loved Monster Hunter because no one liked it).

 _So, why frenzy Zinny?_ Joanne typed as her hunter lay down on the floor with her hands supporting her.

 _Cuz I'm bad at fighting him alone, plus I need materials._

Rick moved his hunter over to Joanne's and kicked it _. Let's go then. What are we waiting for?_

 _I'm not sure we should hunt a Zinogre with a hammer, longsword and duals,_ Joanne typed.

Rick knew that she was just trying to talk Freddy out of hunting Zinogres, because she hated them. He gave a stupid grin and said, "You ain't getting out of this, sis!" Into the 3DS he typed, _Are you kidding? It's perfect! You can paralyze him and Freddy can knock him out! Para duals are awesome, and you're good with them. Besides, Zinny's tail isn't even high up, so you can help me cut it!_

Joanne growled.

 _I HATE ZINNIES,_ she typed, making her hunter stomp his foot in frustration.

 _Zinnies are awesome ;)_ Rick chided.

 _I think they're weird,_ typed Freddy. _I mean, who just sucks electricity out of the air?_

 _THEY SUCK :(_

 _Yeah, That's what I said. They suck electricity._

Rick was getting impatient. _Cut it out guys. Crack better jokes or I'm outta here!_

Freddy went over to the quest counter and got the quest. Rick and Joanne joined in. Just as they were about to leave, Freddy moved over to the item box.

 _Forgot whetstones :P_

Both Rick and Joanne clapped and cheered.

 _I think that should be enough,_ said Freddy after they'd killed half a dozen Zinogre hunts.

 _It better be_ typed Joanne, who was heartily tired of the wolves. Even Rick didn't feel like going for another one. It had been a messy job, especially since Deviljhos showed up in four of the eight hunts. Freddy insisted on killing the Jhos too, which led to a lot of unnecessary carting and failing the quest twice. A job that would've taken no longer than two hours had lasted three hours, and Rick's fingers were aching. Plus, the 3DS was beeping. It was out of juice.

"I think that's enough for today," he said, plugging his 3DS in. "I think aunt's announcing dinner."

They had a hearty dinner. Rick was really tired. He'd run for two hours in the afternoon for no reason, just because Joanne said he couldn't. His legs and hands were screaming for rest.

Without waiting for his sister, he pulled his blanket up and fell asleep instantly, dreaming of Zinogres chasing Deviljhos around the jogging track.


	2. Chapter 2: Cat got your tongue?

**CHAPTER TWO: Cat got your tongue?**

Rick didn't think anyone could sweat so much.

He did sweat in bed sometimes. But he had never sweat so much. He was literally drenched. Half-asleep, he had thrown his covers away ages ago, but he was still sweating.

Suddenly he had a startling realization: people sweat when they feel hot. But Rick was definitely feeling cold.

He opened his eyes, but instead of the roof of his house, he saw a canopy of leaves. Rain pelted his face. He tried to keep his eyes open, but the rain was falling too heavily. How was it raining inside the house? He sat up groggily and wiped his eyes.

 _BOOOOOOOOOOOMM!_

There was a huge noise and a sudden flash of green light. Rick had just opened his eyes again when he was blinded and had to clamp them shut. Was he going to see anything tonight?

Rick shielded his eyes from the rain with his hand and looked around. He seemed to be in a forest. It was raining heavily, and he saw flashes of lightning and heard the rumble of thunder. He was sitting in a small crater under a tree. Rick was stunned. He was definitely not dreaming. Dreams couldn't _feel_ so real, and he was definitely soaked. He could clearly hear the thunder. How had he gotten here?

A sudden thought struck him; he gave a shout, "JOANNE!"

"Yeah…" he heard his sister's sleepy voice. He crawled out of the crater and saw his sister sitting in a similar crater under another tree, rubbing her eyes. He was wide awake now. He jumped into the crater and shook her awake, "You okay?"

Joanne nodded. Relieved, Rick surveyed his surroundings. There were only trees as far as he could see. The sky was a dark and wicked grey. The rain made it difficult to see anything else.

"Where are we?" asked Joanne.

"No idea."

Both of them were really cold now. They looked around for any sign of shelter. One tree had particularly thick branches and big leaves. They made their way to it and climbed onto a low patch of branches, where it was relatively dry. They hugged each other for warmth and watched the rain. A million questions were buzzing in Rick's head, when Joanne pointed towards the sky and said in an unnaturally scared voice, "R-Rick, what's that?"

Rick looked towards where she was pointing and nearly fell out of the tree. A thin gap between two clouds was glowing green. As they watched, a streak of green lightning sped from the gap and hit the ground with an almighty BOOM! The green glow disappeared.

Rick had never been so scared in his life since he had been threatened to be thrown into the garbage unless he handed his lunch over by a gang of bullies. And he hadn't even been very scared then, since the headmaster happened to be flying a kite on the roof at that moment. But there was no one here. He was in an unknown place and had just seen something that looked like it belonged to a science-fiction movie. He had no idea what to do.

"D-don't worry," said Joanne, her teeth chattering. "We'll figure it out in the morning."

Rick nodded and closed his eyes.

They snuggled together and fell asleep.

The sky was a beautiful blue dotted with small white clouds when they woke up. The sun shone brightly, and from its position Rick guessed it must be about 8 o'clock. The trees were lush green. The rain had stopped and little drops dripped from the leaves. With the clear sky, Rick could see green mountains around. A few had snow covered peaks. There was no sign of any civilization.

Joanne was still asleep. Leaning her against the tree, Rick climbed to the top of the tree, which turned out to be quite tall. He had a very good view from here, but it wasn't much use. He couldn't see much else.

Suddenly, a movement near a mountain caught his eye. He stared at the mountain, but whatever he had seen had disappeared behind the mountain. He kept staring at it, when something small and red emerged from behind the mountain. A hot air balloon! Rick was overjoyed to see a sign of living beings. Maybe if they got to the mountain…

"Morning!" shouted Joanne as she climbed to the top of the tree, causing Rick to jump violently.

"DO. NOT. DO. THAT. AGAIN!" Rick scolded, his heart pumping. "I could have fallen!"

"Yeah. Sorry," she said as she perched beside him. "So, where are we? How did we get here? What's happening?"

Rick would have loved to answer, but the same questions were swimming around in his own head. He opened his mouth to say this when he heard a shout, "Help! Anyone?"

Rick and Joanne looked at each other, eyebrows raised. But that sounded like… how could this be?

A figure came into view in a small clearing in the forest. The man looked like he was in his late twenties, wearing purple shorts and an orange t-shirt. It was definitely him.

Rick and Joanne shinnied down the tree and ran to him crying, "Freddy! What are you doing here?"

Freddy looked just as puzzled to see Rick and Joanne as they were to see him. "What'r you guys doing here?

"Um… that's what I just asked you."

"I don't know! I just woke up in a crater like thing, drenched. What is this place?"

Rick had a sudden idea. He glanced at their tree, and pointed in a seemingly random direction, "Did you happen to… ah… spawn over there?"

Freddy looked in the direction Rick was pointing. He screwed his face up, "Um… hard to tell… Let's take a look and see if we can find that crater, eh?"

Joanne looked at Rick, puzzled, "What have you got?"

"Just follow me…"

Rick led them in the direction, when Freddy exclaimed, "Look! Over there!"

He pointed over to their right, where a crater identical to Rick's and Joanne's was visible.

Rick nodded grimly. He looked at the sky, "Did you see it too?"

"What?"

Joanne suddenly caught on, "It was here, wasn't it? The green lightning."

If that was possible, Freddy looked even more puzzled, "Are you guys gonna spill the beans? I don't like being the ignorant one."

Rick told him about the strange lightning they had seen the last night, and asked him if he had seen it too.

Before Freddy could reply, Rick clamped his hand over his mouth, and motioned towards a thicket of bushes.

Two miniature red dots were visible through the plumage. Joanne looked scared out of her wits. Rick didn't feel much better. The hairs on his arms and on the back of his neck stood on end. Freddy grabbed a big fat stick and pointed it uncertainly towards the bushes.

That was when Rick heard a faint noise, like a rattlesnake, coming from the direction. Just in time, he saw something black moving on top of the dots. Rick couldn't believe it. It wasn't possible. But his sense of reasoning left him and instinct took over as he screamed, "DOWN!"

The three of them hit the dirt just as something black whistled over their heads. They all looked back and saw the black spike-like things embed themselves in the trunks of various trees, some falling onto the ground.

Joanne had gone chalk-white. "B-b-but th-th-that's…"

An ear-splitting roar cut her short and caused the ground to tremble. A big black-furred figure leapt out of the bushes, its eyes leaving red laser-like trails. It was about twelve feet long, with arms with razor-ended wings attached to them, and wickedly sharp claws. Its head looked like a slightly elongated cat's head. Its long tail curved on top, bristling with spikes.

The Nargacuga did a slight jump in place, placing one hand and leg forward, its tail pointing at the three of them, ready to pounce.


	3. Chapter 3: Natural Medicines

**CHAPTER 3: Natural Medicines**

Just when Joanne had thought things couldn't get worse.

They were in an unknown place, far from home, with no idea what to do, no supplies, nowhere to go. And here was something out of a game that couldn't possibly exist looking at her menacingly, planning to kill her. If she hadn't been so scared, she would have laughed. If she had to die, this would be a cool way to go about it. She couldn't see how they were going to escape this.

It was Freddy's quick thinking that saved them. He suddenly gave a piercing scream. It was nowhere as loud as the Narga's roar, but for some reason, instead of pouncing, it staggered. Freddy motioned to them. He had bought them barely two seconds, and they got up and began running as fast as they could.

Joanne wondered why the Narga had staggered. Then she remembered something about being able to sonic bomb Nargas when they entered the prowler stance. Freddy's scream couldn't have been as loud as the sonic bomb, but it had worked nevertheless. She heard another roar behind them. Unfortunately, she also remembered something about Nargas getting angrier when they were soniced. She ran even faster.

They weaved in and out of trees with no idea where they were going. She could hear the Narga behind them, but she couldn't risk a glance behind her. She wondered how the huge thing could possibly be chasing them through this thick jungle. But the Nargacuga was called _'The Assasin of the Jungle'_ after all. It probably had its own ways.

About a minute later, Joanne realized that the rustling of leaves and the rattlesnake-like noise of the Narga's tail had stopped. She fell to her knees, panting. The others slowed down, looking around them. The Narga seemed to have gone. They collapsed, but still keeping an eye on the way they had come from.

"It's not like the Narga to just leave its prey," Rick said in a tense voice, looking around. Then his face contorted with fear. "Unless, of course…"

He twisted around. Joanne and Freddy followed suit, but it was too late. The Nargacuga was only a few metres away. The sneaky thing must have flown ahead of them to block their way. The Nargacuga seemed to smirk as it did a flip and brought its tail smashing down on them. Joanne tried to roll away, but the tail hit the right side of her body.

It was like getting hit by a falling elephant. Her body was on fire. She was sure that all the bones in the right side of her body must have crumbled. She just had time to think what a terrible shame this was before she blacked out.

* * *

Joanne opened her eyes to see Freddy's concerned face bearing down on her. As soon as he saw that she was conscious, he gave a wan smile. She tried to sit up, but her right side was still on fire. So she resorted to croaking, "Where are we?"

"In a village in the mountains. Don't worry, you're safe. Well, maybe a bit worse for the wear, but pretty normal otherwise."

"You kidding? I just had half of my body shattered. I don't think that's a _bit_."

"Ah, believe me, it's not that bad. The physician says that you were lucky, it was a small Narga. You'll be better in a few days."

"Has he ever lost half of his body?"

" _She_ has lost her entire body twice, apparently. But I don't really buy that. Can you sit up?"

"I don't think so…" Joanne tried lifting herself up again. "A little help?"

Freddy helped her sit up and lean against the wall of what looked like a one-roomed house. The walls were painted a light brown. Beside the bed on which she lay was a big stand filled with books and magazines. There was a huge brown chest on the other side of the room. Beside it was another chest, but this one had no lid. Joanne could see a few weapons inside it. Startled, she realized that this looked very much like a village hunter's house.

"How did you guys escape? Where's Rick?" She asked as Freddy handed her a cup with a bubbling, steaming orange drink in it.

"Drink," ordered Freddy. Joanne screwed her face up, and drained the cup in one gulp. Surprisingly, it didn't taste bitter. It tasted hot and spicy and burned her tongue.

"Mmm, not bad. What was that?"

"You don't want to know."

"Come on, you can tell me. And I want some more," she added, as the pain in her right side seemed to dim,

"Ah ok, It was juice squeezed out of a Brachydios' intestines. Highly energizing, they tell me, but also highly toxic. They mixed a lot of blue mushrooms in it. It probably won't vaporize your insides now." Freddy gave a wicked grin and turned around, "You want more? There's a lot here somewhere…"

Joanne didn't really feel like having water after this news. "No, I guess I'm good," she said as Freddy walked back with a glass for himself. "I don't recall Brachydios Juices anywhere in MH4U."

"Nah, this is off the charts stuff apparently. Top-secret recipe," said Freddy, sipping some of the juice.

"Are we really in the Monster Hunter universe?" asked Joanne in wonder.

Freddy wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "It sure seems so," he said. "There is a blacksmith, a farm, a guild hall, a village chief, a hunter's cabin, talking cats, everything. There are about half a dozen hunters frolicking around, waiting to go on quests."

Joanne took all this in. She should have been frightened, but she felt more excited. She was actually inside her favourite game! This was like a dream come true. She'd always felt like being a hunter. But instead of exploring the village, she was stuck here, because she couldn't escape a stupid Nargacuga's tail smash. This thought reminded her of a question she'd asked earlier; "How _did_ you guys escape?"

"We were really lucky. As the monster busied himself in getting is tail unstuck from the ground, we picked you up and took off. Then we saw this lady who was picking some mushrooms and stuff. She chucked some flash bombs at the Narga, and we ran off while he was dazed. By the time he caught up with us, we were at the border of the village. The guards drove him away with some well placed shelling from a huge mounted bowgun. And Rick's trying to give the hunters some useful tips about fighting Teostras, but I don't think they're really paying attention. Even I wouldn't take advice about fighting fire dragons from someone who ran away from a ninja-cat."

"But he was unarmed!"

"Irrelevant. He should have some experience fighting unarmed too, apparently, if he knows how to kill Teostras."

Just then, a woman walked into the house. She was a little shorter than Freddy, wearing what looked like a single piece of cloth wound in a complicated manner round her body, covering her completely. She smiled at Joanne, "Feeling better, dear?"

"Say hello to the physician. And the woman who saved us."

"Hey," said Joanne with a smile. "I can't thank you enough for saving us."

But the woman was looking at her strangely. "H-hey?"

Freddy rolled his eyes. "They don't get slang. This is old timey stuff, remember?"

But the physician was clearly not interested anymore. She was poking Joanne in various places along her right side, causing her to give "Ow!"s of pain. Finally she straightened up. She applied some kind of purple paste to the side of her stomach, her shoulder and the back of her waist.

Joanne eyed the paste nervously, as if it would burn a hole in her body. "Is that made from Brachydios' intestinal juices too?"

"Of course not," said the physician, closing the bottle from which the paste had come. "This is juice from a Gobul's brain, mixed with parashrooms."

"P-parashrooms?"

"Yes, they will paralyse the nerves which transport the pain messages. I think you will find that you can walk now. Follow me. You must meet the village chief."

As she walked out of the house, Joanne eyed the paste on her body. "What is it with juices from the monsters' organs?"


	4. Chapter 4: A Gallon of Problems

**CHAPTER 4: A Gallon of Problems**

Joanne had begun to feel like an alien.

The villagers had instantly made clear that she, Rick and Freddy did not belong here. They kept casting glances at them, avoiding their gaze and murmuring behind their backs. Some of them glared hostilely at them. The physician seemed to notice none of this as she led them to… somewhere to meet the village chief.

The village itself reminded her of Pokke village from the second generation of Monster Hunter. There was a lot of snow. Shovels were scattered everywhere, but there seemed to be no particular workers clearing the snow. If there was snow in someone's path, they simply picked a shovel up, cleared their way and tossed it somewhere in the snow before moving on. There was a line of cottages on either side of the road. People were going about their daily work, not bothering them but not ignoring them either. It was cold, but not as cold as Joanne had thought a village in snow-capped mountains should be. There was, however, no sign of anything Monster Hunter related, except for the group of what seemed to be hunters sitting around a table in front of what seemed to be a bar, drinking from steaming cups.

"Where's the blacksmith? The guild hall? Talking cats?" she asked Freddy.

Freddy went red. "The people told me something about them," he said vaguely.

They reached an enormous rock on which some markings were made in red clay. The physician went around the rock onto a small, barely visible path. Joanne saw that there was a hole in the rock on the other side, just big enough for a person. The entrance was barred with metal rods which seemed to cast a black glow. Joanne was about to touch them when a gruff voice said, "You don't want to do that".

She whirled around. A huge man was standing on the path, his arms folded. He seemed to have appeared from thin air. He looked about six and a half feet tall, with a bald head. He was wearing a single piece of cloth that covered his stomach and middle. He seemed to be completely ignoring the cold. His eyes seemed to size them up.

Joanne looked back at the cave, "What's in there?" she asked curiously.

"You don't need to know," said the man rudely. "Come, you must meet the village chief."

"So I've heard," muttered Joanne darkly as she followed the man around another rock which was twice as huge as the first one, so it almost looked like a cliff. There was another cave at the bottom of this rock. This one was, however, open and the man walked through it.

"You must excuse Gallon for his gruffness," said the physician in an undertone. "He's not keen on visitors."

"His name is Gallon?" asked Rick in surprise.

"Yes, so?" asked the physician, walking into the cave.

"Isn't that… OW!" Rick cried, as Freddy stamped on his foot.

"They don't do gallons here, kid. No one knows what that means," he hissed.

They walked in silence through the cave, which curved right and slightly upward. It was naturally lit by glowing white crystals, several of which were broken.

"Novacrystals," informed the physician. "Very rare and valuable. This village was formed due to the discovery of such a large store. The blacksmith is allowed to break some off for his weapons and armor."

They reached a small opening above a natural rock ledge. The physician climbed out, beckoning the others to follow. They emerged into a large street and Joanne was cleared of all doubt that they were in the Monster Hunter universe.

To her left were two shops. One was selling items like herbs, cool and hot drinks, tranquilizers and monster information booklets. The other one was selling whetstones, bowgun shells, bow coatings and trap tools. To the right were stone steps that presumably led to the farm. Ahead was a great black forge. Half of it was a big furnace, and the tops of the fire roaring in it could be seen above the roof. Attached to it was a small shop, which must have been the blacksmith's, though the blacksmith was nowhere to be seen. At the end of the road was a huge two-storeyed house made entirely of blue and red crystals with a slanting roof made of what looked like metallic skin. To its right was a steaming hot spring, with a drinks stall next to it. To its left was a very old fashioned straw hut which looked very out of place beside the fire-and-water building.

It was like looking at several generations of Monster Hunter at once. Joanne had never seen such a magnificent gathering hall.

"This is the gathering hall of our village," said the physician proudly, pointing to the red and blue building. "Built wholly from Machalite and Eltalite. The roof is made from the shedded skin of the great Kushala Daora itself. And that," she pointed at the shabby old hut, "is where the village chief lives. Come on."

The village chief was sitting behind the hut, with her back to them, warming herself at a fire. Her cat was sleeping beside her. Gallon was sitting on the other side of the fire. He glared at them when they arrived and muttered, "They're here."

The village chief turned towards them. She was a very old woman, her body fully wrapped up in the signature single-cloth clothing of this village. Her skin was literally plastered onto her face, with no flesh in between, which reminded Joanne of Girkuza from a Monster Hunter comic she'd read. Her nose seemed to be broken. But that was all that suggested that she was old. Her eyes were a startling shade of green that seemed to look right through Joanne. Her teeth, though not in very good condition, were all there. She stood up, revealing herself to be about double the size of a standard cat. Her cat woke up and came over, rubbing itself against her short legs.

"Hello, and welcome to Guranta village," she said, in a voice that sounded like a forty-year old woman, not like someone who seemed to be over two hundred. "I am Minerva, the chief of this village. You-"

She was cut off by a man who came running over yelling "Chief! Chief!"

The man stopped at the fire, panting, and thrust a scroll at Minerva. She unrolled it, her eyes travelling up and down. She sighed, and threw it into the fire. "I expect the others will be leaving soon?" she said.

"They have already gone. Scared out of their wits. I don't know what we're going to do. This situation is getting out of hand."

"Whoa, whoa, time out!" said Freddy. "What's up? Who's scared?"

The man glanced at Minerva, who nodded. He turned to the three of them. "A monster has appeared on the other side of the Eastern Ranges," he said. "It is unlike anything we have ever seen. It destroys anything and everything in its path. Over twenty hunters have been killed, four villages destroyed. No one is able to stop it. We call it the Annhilator. And it is approaching…"

"Say no more," interrupted Rick. "What is this monster? We will get rid of it."

Joanne looked at Rick as if he were nuts. Had he been touched in the head? They'd just run away from a ridiculously small Nargacuga, and he wanted to take on something that had killed twenty professional hunters?

The village chief, however, seemed to have different thoughts. Instead of telling him that he needed a psychologist, she simply said, "You are underage."

The messenger guy seemed to share Joanne's view, however. "You can't be serious, Chief! They're nobody!"

Minerva turned to the messenger. "Any ideas, Bontus?" she asked politely.

"Um…"

"Go and notify the villagers at once."

As Bontus hurried away, Minerva turned her eyes back on Rick. "What makes you think you can do it?"

"I have had… erm… practice," said Rick hesitantly.

"So I've heard," said Minerva coldly.

"I was not prepared that time!"

"The kid is right," said Freddy, laying a hand on his shoulder. "We have certain knowledge that you do not."

Minerva did not seem to take this as an insult. She stared at the mountains in the distance, as if a monster would leap out of them at any second. Finally, she said, "I suppose there's no harm in seeing if you have the Burreshingu. After that, if you pass the test, we will see what to do."


	5. Chapter 5: The Fruit of Labour

**CHAPTER 5: The Fruit of Labour**

Rick hated himself.

He couldn't bear to see Joanne unconscious in the hunter's cabin, so he had decided to take a stroll. Overhearing some hunters talking about hunting a Teostra, he had inched closer. He had heard one of them saying that a Teostra was weak to thunder and had had a good silent laugh. But he had been quite horrified when they all actually agreed with him. He'd jumped out at them and started explaining that a Teostra was weak to dragon and water, but they wouldn't buy it. They'd treated him like a joke. Rick didn't like to be treated like a joke.

Perhaps it was this little incident that had made him propose that they would get rid of The Annihilator. He was already regretting his little outburst. How could he, Joanne and Freddy kill something that might well be a Dalamadur? They might be pros at a video game, but they had no real experience in combat. But he couldn't do anything about it as he followed Minerva to the hot spring. A bath would do him good. And what had she said about them having… a brushing goo?

Unfortunately, they were not taking a bath. They moved away from the hot spring as soon as they had reached it, heading behing the gathering hall. A man was sitting on a stone bench, tearing at a piece of meat on a bone. He had long disheveled hair. His piece of cloth was wound around his body, but most of it could be seen through the enormous holes and tears in it anyway. He waved a thin hand at them, "Aye, yall come from th' grin ligh'ning, nya?"

They all froze. Minerva's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about, Grat?" she asked.

Grat tore another piece off the meat with his yellow teeth, which looked like they had been hammered very badly into his mouth all at different angles. "Why, th' grin ligh'ning, o'curs! Las' nigh', when i' was rainin'!" he croaked in a voice that sounded literally broken into pieces.

Minerva turned to them. "I knew you were not from our world. Where are you from? What is he saying about this green lightning?"

Rick recounted the last night, and told her that they were indeed from another world. He did not, however, mention Monster Hunter the video game.

"So, you say that you were transported here through this lightning?" she said broodingly, not really asking them. She turned back to Grat, who had finished the meat and was now chewing the bone. "How many lightning strikes did you count, Grat?"

"Um… can he count?" asked Joanne, eyeing Grat cautiously.

"Of course he can count."

Grat seemed to realize that his meat was over and chucked the bone into the hot spring. Just before it hit the water, the chief's cat jumped up and caught the bone in its mouth. It ran away into the woods.

"Dang tha' ca'!" said Grat, "well, as for th' ligh'ning, Minerva, I coun'ed six'y eigh'."

Rick felt his heart stop pumping. There were sixty-eight people from their world here?

"Don't be stupid, Grat," scoffed Minerva. "How many green lightning strikes did you count?"

"Ah, those, I coun'ed five."

Rick felt his heart get going again. Five people was not a big deal. Although someone was bound to discover them missing in their world, it would not cause too much chaos. "So, where are the other two?" he wondered out loud.

"Your guess is as good as mine," said Minerva. "But we can see to that later. First, important matters."

They walked to the very back of the guild hall. There was a stone wall on the right, which curved and met the wall of the hall, creating a large closed area like a small playground. Plants with colourful flowers were planted along the edge, making it look very pleasant. In the centre, in a small pit ringed with marble stones was a thin but very tall tree. The trunk grew upwards in a wavy pattern, with very thin branches sprouting out of it, all the leaves directly attached to them. On the top, something glowed red.

"This is the Hanta Tsuri," said Minerva. "The Hunters' Tree. It grants the Burreshingu, an ancient Japanese blessing. Only those born with the blood of a hunter are able to climb to the top, and eat the sacred fruit. After, and if, you pass this test, you may pursue the path of a hunter."

Rick tried to see the fruit clearly, but the leaves hid it well. He could only see the red glow. If he tried to move backwards, the tree seemed to bend in the opposite direction, obscuring his vision again.

"What does the blessing… um… do?" asked Freddy uncertainly.

"You say you know certain things we do not," said Minerva suspiciously. "Surely you know what special powers hunters have?"

Rick racked his brains, his mind going back to the video game. What special powers did he have in it?

"Er… You can jump off great heights?" he asked?

"Yes, that is one side effect," said Minerva unhelpfully.

"I know, it makes your legs stronger!" exclaimed Joanne.

Minerva smiled, her skin stretching so much that it looked as if it might rip at any moment. "That is one part," she said.

"It basically makes your whole body stronger, doesn't it?" asked Freddy confidently.

"It does, yes, very good. What else does it do?"

"Um… increase your natural healing speed?" asked Rick

"Natural and medicinal, yes. The last effect?"

Joanne gave a large grin and said, "I know! You can't die!"

Minerva frowned. "What's that? Of course you can die!" she said. "Didn't Bontus just tell you how many hunters the Annihilator had killed? And what's the point if you can't even die?"

"Oh yeah…" said Joanne, her face falling.

"The last effect is that it makes your senses sharper and your body agile, thus allowing – or assisting – you to survive your hunts," explained Minerva, apparently losing her patience.

"What if you become a hunter without having this… er… blessing?"

"A Kut-Ku would probably kill you."

There was silence, punctuated by Grat's loud guffaws. Minerva broke it, "So, would you like to go first?" she asked Freddy, beckoning towards the tree.

Freddy gulped, but seeing that both Rick and Joanne were kids, he seemed to think that it was his responsibility to set an example. He jumped a little, grabbing a branch with one hand and the trunk with the other. The branch bent easily. Freddy seemed to be surprised at this, for he let go and hit the ground. Rick winced.

Dusting himself and looking thoroughly disgruntled and embarrassed, Freddy jumped again and grabbed the same branch much harder. Pushing his feet against the trunk, he managed to pull himself up and finally rest them on a branch, being careful to keep them as close to the trunk as possible. After that, it was cake, and he was at the top in minutes.

"Very good," said Minerva. "Your friend has the Blessing. He is fit to become a hunter." She then said to Freddy, "Go on, take a bite!" Rick wondered how Freddy could hear her, the tree was quite tall and her voice was just loud enough that they could hear her standing at her side.

Freddy had been looking strangely at them for a few seconds, as if surprised. He then lowered his head. The red glow disappeared immediately. Minerva nodded, and said, "You may come down now!"

But instead of climbing down, Freddy jumped. Rick gasped. Joanne's eyes widened. Minerva yawned. Freddy hit the ground and just bent his knees, absorbing all the pressure without even rolling The ground actually cracked at his feet.

Minerva yawned wider, and waved Rick towards the tree. Rick began to climb just as Freddy had done, thinking that this was a really stupid test, that anyone could do it. He kept climbing, seeing the red glow at the top which had immediately reappeared after Freddy had jumped. After climbing a bit more, keeping his eyes on the branches, he looked up again. The top seemed as far away as ever. He climbed unhaltingly for about a minute more.

He looked up again and was astonished to see that the top seemed as far away as ever. Surely it ought to be getting closer? He couldn't be that bad at climbing. He looked down to get a glimpse at the ground. It seemed much closer than it ought to be. Angry at himself for making a fool of himself, he climbed faster for about five minutes without stopping. Again he looked at the ground. Was he climbing at all? The ground seemed just a bit further than it was five minutes ago. The top was as far as ever. This was impossible. How had Freddy done it in just a few minutes? Rick was already tiring. But he kept climbing, not wanting to fail a hunter's test. He would become a hunter. He would. He would.

After more than an hour of climbing, he finally reached the top.

The fruit looked like an oversized pomegranate, emitting a fierce red glow. He plucked it from the branch. It was strangely light. He looked down at the others and almost fell off the tree. He wasn't more than five feet above them! Had he just climbed five feet in an hour? But the tree had seemed so tall!

"Good, you have the Blessing too. Come down now," said Minerva in her abnormally low voice.

"Don't I get to eat it?" asked Rick in surprise.

"You are underage. You wouldn't be able to even if you tried," said Minerva. "But I wont stop you from trying."

Rick was confused. "How will I get the hunter's powers, then?"

"You won't, obviously."

"Then what about becoming a hunter?" this was not going as Rick had thought.

"You can't eat the fruit unless you are of age, though you can climb the tree. So, you will have to wait until you are eighteen. That will be what, three years?"

Rick was becoming angry now. "Three years? I can't wait three freaking years! I'll do it now, and you can't stop me!"

Minerva yawned yet again. "By all means, give it your best bite."

Rick looked at the fruit. It looked quite edible. He bit into the side.

The fruit vanished along with the red glow at once, not into thin air, but into Rick's body. He suddenly felt incredible. He could do anything. He could, for instance, strangle a Tigrex with his bare hands. He could run the length of the Sahara desert. And he could definitely jump down this tree. Rick jumped. The tree suddenly seemed to grow back to its old forty-foot high state, and Rick was hurtling towards the ground at top speed. But the idea that he would break any of his bones was so hilarious that he laughed aloud. He hit the ground with shattering impact, although it was the ground that cracked, not his bones. He stood up, grinning. "That was incredible!"

But Minerva was looking anything but incredible. The little colour in her seemed to have drained out. She gawped at Rick, then at the tree, which was as tall as ever, the fruit restored at the top. She sat down in a heap on a bench, and motioned vaguely. Joanne began to climb.

Just then Bontus came around the guild hall with another scroll. He shrieked when he saw Minerva, dropped the scroll and ran to her, "What is the matter? What happened? Is anything the matter? What's wrong?"

Minerva pointed vaguely towards Rick. "The child," she said in a whisper, "He ate it."

Bontus turned to Rick. "You did not," he whispered.

"'Course I did," said Rick. He looked at the top of the tree and saw the red glow vanish yet again. "And she did too," he said pointing at the figure hurtling down. Joanne crashed onto the ground on her knees, cracking the ground. "Isn't this normal?"

"This most definitely is not normal," said Bontus. He removed a conch horn from nowhere and blew into it. The sound was like the trumpeting of a million elephants at once. "A meeting has just been called. Let's see what to do with you."


	6. Chapter 6: Of Tongues and Moustaches

**CHAPTER 6: Of Tongues and Moustaches**

Why the gathering hall could not be used for a village gathering, Rick could not understand.

"Only the hunters may gather in the gathering hall," explained Bontus. He was supporting the unconscious Minerva as the villagers poured in through the cave to join the meeting in front of the gathering hall. "Villagers may only go into the gathering hall if they have to speak with the guild master, or if one of their relatives is going for a quest."

"What a stupid rule," grumbled Joanne. It was hot.

"Well, I don't make the rules," said Bontus. "And it's no cooler in there."

A man sauntered out of the gathering hall. He was the only one not wearing the trademark single-cloth clothing of Guranta village. He was wearing bright yellow pants that were at least four sixes too big. His upper body was covered by a blue cloth with a hole for his head. The bottom of this cloth along with the pants was tied by a belt that looked suspiciously like a Chameleos' tongue. The thought was so revolting that Rick tried to think of something cheerful. Lollipops were the first thing that popped up in his head, and it made so little sense that he gave a giggle, earning many suspicious looks. God, it wouldn't do good to look crazy when his fate was to be decided. He attempted to straighten his face, but the lollipops would not go away.

Bontus and the Chameleos tongue belt guy were talking in low tones along with a third man who looked like a hunter, except he couldn't be one. Bontus had said that all of them had run away. But except that he was the only man who was dressed in battle armor, what really stood out was his moustache. Bushy grey, It was _huge_. It completely covered his mouth, like a curtain. Rick wondered how he ate.

Bontus then turned to the villagers. "The meeting has been cancelled!" he proclaimed. "Everybody get back to the village!"

With much grumbling and "What?"ing and name-calling, the villagers went back into the cave. Rick was quite amused at this new announcement, but also relieved. At least they would not have to face the entire the village, which he had been dreading, and rightfully so (he told himself), under the circumstances.

"What's the matter? Why did you cancel the meeting?" asked Freddy as the three men came over.

"We saw no reason to consult the entire village," said the Chameleos tongue belt man (darn, that thought would _not_ go away) in a drawling voice. "Bontus here is a little… ah… elusive."

"Do you mean impulsive?" asked Mr. Amazingly Impossible Moustache with a frown.

"If you say so," said Mr. Chameleos Tongue Belt carelessly. "What is important is that you three, uh, did they slay a Nargacuga, did you say?"

" _They ate the sacred fruit,_ for God's sake, Arston," said Mr. Amazingly Impossible Moustache. "And they ran away from a Nargacuga."

"That's what I said," said Arston, scratching his bald head. "Well forget that, aren't we going to pour undiluted Brachydios slime over them?"

"You always remember the worst things you hear, don't you Arston? said Mr. Amazingly Impossible Moustache with a smirk. "Bontus, won't you give him a shot of his favourite juice?"

"Huh, okay, sure," said Bontus, leading Arston back into the gathering hall.

Mr. Amazingly Impossible Moustache turned to the three of them. "I am supposed to train you become hunters," he said. "We will begin tomorrow at dawn. You may stay at the former hunter's cabin till then. You obviously have no questions as I have made everything very clear. See you." He turned and strode away into the woods.

"Hey what about Minerva?" called Rick after him. Minerva was still out cold.

"Leave her." shouted Mr. Amazingly Impossible Moustache without turning around. "She loves the nature anyway."


	7. Chapter 7: A Sickening Chicken

**CHAPTER 7: A Sickening Chicken**

"You ready?"

"As ever."

Joanne gave her blades one more sharpen with her whetstone. They were ugly things, made from Bulldrome tusks, but they were sharp and light. Beside her, Rick sharpened his longsword. It was unfair, she thought, that he got one made out of iron. Freddy swung his bone hammer in front of them, practicing the golf swing. All of them were clad in armor made from iron and Bullfango hides. Joanne looked at the arena doors, contemplating the task that lay ahead.

It had been fifteen days since they had begun training. Their trainer, whom they knew only as Sir, had kept their nose to the grindstone, or the whetstone, seeing as they were expected to sharpen their weapons every moment there wasn't a monster in front of them.

"There's no harm in keeping your weapons sharp," he'd said after he'd scolded Joanne for turning up for training with a blade which needed to be pushed a millimetre more to pierce the human. "It's not as if your whetstone is going to burn out!"

Now, after fifteen days of sharpening, running, rolling, combining, weapon swinging, meat cooking, armor wearing, bomb throwing and planting, trap setting, potion drinking, getting shouted at, they were ready for their final task.

"You will kill your first monsters in this task," said Sir. Joanne had found it weird that they hadn't had to touch a single monster during their fifteen days of training. "I hope that you don't cringe at the sight of blood, or get scared of slashing at a monster. Remember, these are ferocious beasts who will tear you apart the first chance they get. Attempts have been made to capture and train these things many times. Each and every one of those three hundred and twenty-three people died. One actually succeeded in getting a Rathalos to follow his command and lie on the ground. Unfortunately, the Rathalos was just playing a cruel game. When the hunter gathered all the people around to show them his achievement, he blasted everything and everyone and tore the hunter apart. What I mean to say is," he smiled at the looks on their faces, "The only way to get rid of these beasts is to slay it. They cannot be captured or trained. It's them or us. And if you do manage to kill a ferocious beast, why not reap the spoils of war?"

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Joanne as she recalled this conversation. _They cannot be captured_ , he had said. But they could definitely be captured! Sir had taught them to set traps. He had also shown them tranquilizer bombs, although they had not thrown any. And what use were tranq bombs, if not for capturing?

But Joanne had no time to contemplate this thought. The arena doors were swinging upward. With bated breath, the three of them stepped into the arena.

It was the second thing Joanne had seen till now that looked almost exactly like it was in the video game. It was the great arena from the older games. There was no other way to describe it. The curvy walls looked like they were made of sand, but it was hard to the touch. The only thing that looked different was that there were three doors instead of the two in the game.

As they stepped forward, the door slammed to the ground behind them. The three of them readied their weapons, looking tensely at the doors. "Any idea how many?" asked Rick.

"There are three of us, so two easy and one hard," said Freddy. "Two come together."

"What goes into which category?"

"No idea."

They waited.

About a minute later, the door to their left rose. A muffled and unrecognizable cry came from the inside. A blue and red monster burst out of the door, screaming. It looked like an oversized chicken. Its body was dark blue with reddish scales. Its deep red tail looked like a piece of rubber. It had an ugly brown nose that curved sharply upwards. On the top of its head sat a crest that looked like a conch horn, glowing yellow.

The Gypceros jumped around and flapped its wings, enjoying its freedom. Then it noticed the three of them. It gave a guttural shriek. Its crest glowed brighter.

"Okay, scatter as usual," said Freddy. "Get its legs and make it fall. I'll smash the crest off." The kids nodded. Freddy took left flank, Rick took right flank. Joanne was left in the middle, as she had the lightest weapon. She walked slowly towards the Gypceros, her blades raised. Freddy and Rick would take it from behind.

The Gypceros sensed something wrong. It eyed the three of them, then backed off, swishing its rubbery tail. Freddy and rick could not get past him. They waited at the sides while Joanne advanced.

Then all hell broke loose.

The Gypceros shrieked, and ran towards Rick, flapping his wings wildly. He rolled out of the way, and slashed upwards. It tore the monster's wing. It appeared not to notice. It turned around and spat a ball of poison. Rick rolled away as the poison splashed inches away. Some of it splattered on his armor, which sizzled and blackened in those spots.

As Joanne ran in from its left, it swung its tail in a great arc. She ducked under it and slashed at the legs. The blade bounced off, but a small cut appeared. The Gypceros kicked her and prepared to splash her with his poison. Rick slashed again at its left wing. He was rewarded. He cut a big gash in the arm. The Gypceros staggered. Freddy swung at its legs. The force knocked it off its feet. It flailed and tried to fly, but its left wing was torn and maimed. The effect was quite comical. Freddy was just taking another swing when the crest glowed and crackled. A blinding flash of light emanated from it. Joanne could not see or even hear anything. She staggered and fell. When the world started returning to its normal colour, she saw that the Gypceros had jumped onto Rick. She staggered over and stabbed it in the belly. It did not hurt it, but it angered it. It let go of Rick who stood shakily. The Gypceros brought its head down like a hammer, but Joanne rolled under its legs. She slashed its underside with both her blades. One bounced off, the other cut straight through its rubbery hide.

Freddy brought his hammer swinging in a great arc and bashed the Gypceros' belly. It staggered from the great impact. Rick was back on his feet. He slashed at the right wing. Joanne kept stabbing and slashing its underside. The crest glowed, but this time they were ready for it. They looked away and clamped their eyes shut as he flashed them. Everything still looked much brighter as Joanne opened her eyes, but she was not stunned like last time. She kept cutting at its underside. The Gypceros finally fell down, but not before burping out a great splash of poison. A large portion of the liquid got onto Freddy's left arm and melted his vambraces right off his hand. Freddy cursed and Joanne looked at his hand. The iron had melted right off, leaving a thin holey layer of Bullfango skin. Freddy glared at the Gypceros. "You didn't," he said. He brought his great hammer smashing down on its head. The Gypceros burped out a splatter of blood and poison. The crest broke off. The part where it had broken off emitted a last deadly flash.

None of them were ready for that. All of them got hit by the full force of it.. Joanne's blades fell out of her hand. This flash had been too strong. She tried to shake it off. From when did a broken crest emit a flash?

When she finally gained control of her senses, the Gypceros lay unmoving. She moved over and laid a hand on his stomach. Her fingers found a pulse. She looked around at Rick and Freddy. Rick nodded Freddy gave her a thumbs up. She plunged the daggers into the place where the pulse was the strongest. The Gypceros gave a final moan. The pulse died as the beast did too.

"What do you feel?" said a voice. She turned to find two men plus Sir striding towards them with ropes. The two other men began to tie them around the Gypceros, preparing to haul it away.

"Nothing. Excited, I guess," it was true. Joanne had thought that she would feel sorry for mercilessly killing a beast, but she felt thrilled and exhilarated. Hunting a million of these things in a video game did stuff to you, made you emotionally stronger or whatnot, she thought. She had actually killed a monster! In real life! It was too good to be true.

Sir nodded. A muffled roar echoed from one of the other caves. "Your challenge is not over. Do well," he said. Sir did not believe in luck.

The three of them faced the two other doors after the men had left. Two would come together now.

"Was that the easy one?" asked Rick, sharpening his longsword.

"Eh, must have been," said Freddy. "What's easier than a Gypceros?"

"I don't know, a Kut-ku? An Arzuros?"

"Great Jaggi?" said Joanne hopefully.

"Don't think so. The day Sir gives us an easy monster will be the day the sun blows up."

Suddenly, Sir's voice boomed across the arena, "There has been a change of plan. You will face a different single monster instead of the two planned ones. Do well."

"Don't tell me, something harder than both of them?" muttered Rick darkly.

"Hope not. I really don't feel up to taking on a Rajang or a Deviljho."

"Well, we don't have any choice, do we?"

They looked at the doors, wondering which one would open and which horror would emerge.


End file.
